Napoli strengthened their hold on the Serie A summit with Saturday’s 3-1 win over Torino which put them three points clear of their title rivals.
An early brace from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, his first goals in Serie A, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s fifth of his first Serie A season will keep Napoli in first place unless Atalanta beat Fiorentina by five goals on Sunday.
Napoli have won six on the bounce between Italy’s top flight and the Champions League and go into Tuesday’s trip to Ajax in high spirits, knowing they could take a big step towards the knockout stage of Europe’s top competition.
Luciano Spalletti’s side have also netted 18 times in their eight league fixtures despite having to do without starting centre-forward Victor Osimhen for their last three matches.
Torino, who scored through Antonio Sanabria just before the break, stay ninth after losing their third straight game and are level on 10 points with local rivals Juventus who host Bologna on Sunday night.
Ivan Juric’s side have been unlucky to collect no points from their last three fixtures, with their previous two defeats coming late and after decent performances.
They acquitted themselves well in Naples too once they recovered from Anguissa’s strikes in the sixth and 12th minutes, the Cameroon midfielder first heading in Mario Rui’s pinpoint cross before charging unchallenged towards goal and doubling the hosts’ lead.
Kvaratskhelia then scored a similar goal to Anguissa’s second from the opposite flank in the 37th minute, bursting onto Piotr Zielinski’s through ball and rolling a low finish in off the post.
Torino pushed throughout the second half after Sanabria forced one back in the 44th minute but couldn’t find a way back, allowing Napoli to celebrate another win in front of their delighted supporters.
AFP
Contact: theeditor[at]punchng.com
